Late evening, Nikita decided to go for a swim and I went out to give her some company. Instead of actually jumping in, I stayed land side and started reading up on some geography trivia. Some of the things I learnt just blew my mind away. See how many of these you already know. After answering them, Google up and find out the answers!!

I understand the problem is attributed to Pythagoras. (I am not sure of the veracity of the story). In any case, my friend Prodipto posted this in our school Whatsapp group. Try it…

In a party that had 100 guests, the first guest was given 1% of a large cake. The next guest got 2% of what was left. And the next got 3% of what was left…. on and on… the 99th guest got 99% whatever was left at that time and the 100th guest got the final (100% of) leftover.

Found an interesting one from my friend Prodipta Chatterjee. Took me a few minutes till I realized that the trick is to not think of it as other problems of similar descriptions… Try it…

From a bag that has 26 bills (of three denominations – $1, $2 and $5), you pick out 20 of them blindfolded. You are guaranteed (probability = 1) that you will have at least one $1 bill AND two $2 bills and five $5 bills.

You have to solve for the following question: How much total money is there in the bag?

While studying up about gin, I started researching the consumption patterns in the world. The first thing I wanted to know is which is the country that consumes the most gin in a year per capita (per person). The research led me to a country that I would not have guessed even if my life depended on it. That made me curious about other alcohols and then subsequently, non-alcoholic drinks. The answers will blow your mind. Try this for yourself. (The year signifies which year research data I could get to in the internet).

First, without Googling, take a shot. And then see how close were you. For the answers, just click the following link that will take you to the answers. http://www.rajibroy.com/?p=12555. Also, if you find statistics from later years, please send them my way…

Headed to DC on a Thursday. Which always reminds me of those puzzles I used to post every Thursday on my way out of DC. Posting puzzles after a long time. And since one good turn deserves another, I will post two…

First a warmup one…

1. Assuming you are as old as me (which is about 50), what is the probability that you have seen in your life somebody (human being) with more than average number of legs?

2. In my running trail, there is a spot where I have to climb up ten stairs. At any step, I can jump up one stair or two stairs. How many different ways can I climb up those ten stairs?

If you are reading this on Facebook, just send me personal message with your answer – I will let you know if you got it and post your name as somebody who got it right. There might be some time gap – I have a long night in front of me today.

Getting bored in the loooooong flight back. Suddenly remembered an email exchange I had with my friend Mita this week. It was actually a puzzle. In all honesty, I had heard a puzzle somewhat like that, so I was able to get it. Figured I will post it here.

The challenging part of the puzzle is its incredible simplicity. There are no catches in the puzzle. But the simplicity is bound to confuse readers. So here it goes…